Online Education: Making a Career Out of Fine Art & Craft

If you have shown some natural artistic talent and want to develop it further, consider a degree in fine art & craft. This may be a perfect part-time pursuit for working people or young parents who can use online education to make it easily accessible.
An online degree in fine art & craft can help you understand the art world and your ability to create your own work. It can cover a full range of styles and forms, from the classics like painting and pottery to cutting edge arts like multi-media and web-based works. It introduces you to the work of other artists--what's been done in the past and what your contemporaries are doing. This gives you a sense of the developing language in your chosen art form, so you can make your own contribution.
In addition to showing you the current artistic landscape, an online degree in fine art & craft can teach you about careers available to artists and art lovers. If you feel you were born to create, how do you get started selling artwork? If your artistic ability can be used to design accessories for the mass market, who are potential employers for this work? Does your appreciation for the arts mix with an entrepreneurial streak that makes you suited to becoming an art dealer? Or, has your knowledge of the field become so finely-tuned that you might become a museum curator or a teacher?

Online Education: Fine Art & Craft

As you can see, an online degree in fine art & craft is a chance to learn as much about yourself as about the arts. Associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees are available. If you plan to be a practicing artist, an associate's degree might be sufficient to give you some background and help you start developing a portfolio of work. On the other hand, if you see yourself as a curator or a teacher, you should look for respected master's programs in the field.

Richard Barrington is a freelance writer and novelist who previously spent over twenty years as an investment industry executive.